Who “owns” the news in a digital age?

The glib answer is “no one.” But of course, the full answer is more complicated than that.

Famously, news is “who, what, when, where and why”– the “five Ws.” That mantra was drilled into the minds of generations of journalists, the essentials around which a news report is constructed.

Once past those basic facts, the complexity of the ownership issue begins.

News operations claim ownership of their reports – individual items as well as the collections that make up newspapers, broadcasts and online sites.

Ownership can relate to a particular account of news, the arrangement of words, the photos, videos or sounds of events – as in television or radio broadcasts of sports games, where a station or network pays a rights fee to “own” the event.

Ownership also might be linked to a particular means of determining the news, as when a court held some years ago that the PGA owns the “news” as reported in its unique method of tracking where every golfer in a tournament stands at any particular moment in the competition.

A system has grown up over centuries, in copyright law, to determine who owns such “news” reports – with evolving legal definitions over time of what can be owned, for how long, and by whom.

Yet another evolution – involving the Internet and the pervasive presence of mobile devices with cameras – may well be spurred by a fan’s cell phone-video of the horrific crash at a preliminary race in this year’s Daytona 500.

The controversy involves video taken by a fan seated near the spot where debris – including a wheel – dropped into spectator seats as cars collided. A fan posted the video on YouTube. But it was taken down for a time after NASCAR brought a copyright claim under a law that effectively requires the site host to take down first and review later. As it happens, YouTube later determined it saw no copyright violation and restored the video to public view.

The incident presents this question: Who owns an account of unexpected “news” (the crash) that occurs during planned “news” (the race).

In an interview with The Washington Post’s media blogger Erik Wemple, NASCAR Vice President of Digital Media Marc Jenkins said “This was never a copyright issue for us. We blocked it out of respect for those injured. What we saw was that it appeared someone was injured by the tire and it was unclear at the time what the status of the fan was.”

Still, news reports say that every NASCAR ticket contains a small-print admonition that it owns any video, audio or data account of its races. And it was on that claim that NASCAR employed the take-down process to accomplish its stated humanitarian goal.

There’s little question of the ownership of scripted, planned events where there are tickets – from Broadway plays to professional wrestling events – where the outcome is set in advance. The claim would seem less solid the closer the issue of ownership moves to the undetermined, unplanned process and outcome of an event – a news account of how a game was played, or a fan’s visual record of the winners or losers in a car race.

And what if there’s a disturbance during a scripted play? Does the playwright or theater “own,” say, a video record of a heckler’s outburst? What if a real fight breaks out during a staged fight at the wrestling “match?” Is that part of the show?

Or is it just news, with the element of serendipity putting not only the “five W’s” but the reports that surround them, in whatever technological form, firmly in the public domain?

A free press unrestrained by government, but hemmed in privately by those who would claim ownership of such unplanned occurrences, clearly is not really free to report all of the news as fully as it might.

At one time, the issue might have stopped with an old observation that the free press “belongs to the man who owns one,” as in a printing press.

But toss in the added element that we’re all now “reporters” and can inexpensively post the news to the entire world with a few keystroke – and suddenly, the real news is that the idea of who owns the news is changing yet again.

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THE EXPERTS

The First Amendment Center is an educational organization and cannot provide legal advice.

Ken Paulson is president of the First Amendment Center and dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University. He is also the former editor-in-chief of USA Today.

Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute, also is senior vice president of the First Amendment Center, a center of the institute. He is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.

John Seigenthaler founded the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.

About The First Amendment Center

We support the First Amendment and build understanding of its core freedoms through education, information and entertainment.

The center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of religion, and the rights to assemble and to petition the government.

Founded by John Seigenthaler, the First Amendment Center is an operating program of the Freedom Forum and is associated with the Newseum and the Diversity Institute. The center has offices in the John Seigenthaler Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

The center’s website, www.firstamendmentcenter.org, is one of the most authoritative sources of news, information and commentary in the nation on First Amendment issues. It features daily updates on news about First Amendment-related developments, as well as detailed reports about U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the First Amendment, and commentary, analysis and special reports on free expression, press freedom and religious-liberty issues. Support the work of the First Amendment Center.

1 For All

1 for All is a national nonpartisan program designed to build understanding and support for First Amendment freedoms. 1 for All provides teaching materials to the nation’s schools, supports educational events on America’s campuses and reminds the public that the First Amendment serves everyone, regardless of faith, race, gender or political leanings. It is truly one amendment for all. Visit 1 for All at http://1forall.us/

Help tomorrow’s citizens find their voice: Teach the First Amendment

The most basic liberties guaranteed to Americans – embodied in the 45 words of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – assure Americans a government that is responsible to its citizens and responsive to their wishes.

These 45 words are as alive and important today as they were more than 200 years ago. These liberties are neither liberal nor conservative, Democratic nor Republican – they are the basis for our representative democratic form of government.

We know from studies beginning in 1997 by the nonpartisan First Amendment Center, and from studies commissioned by the Knight Foundation and others, that few adult Americans or high school students can name the individual five freedoms that make up the First Amendment.

The lesson plans – drawn from materials prepared by the Newseum and the First Amendment Center – will draw young people into an exploration of how their freedoms began and how they operate in today’s world. Students will discuss just how far individual rights extend, examining rights in the school environment and public places. The lessons may be used in history and government, civics, language arts and journalism, art and debate classes. They may be used in sections or in their entirety. Many of these lesson plans indicate an overall goal, offer suggestions on how to teach the lesson and list additional resources and enrichment activities.

First Amendment Moot Court Competition

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – the cornerstone of American democracy – is the focus of the National First Amendment Moot Court Competition. Recognized as one of the nation's finest constitutional-law competitions, this annual event features a current First Amendment controversy.

During the two-day competition in February, each team will participate in a minimum of four rounds, arguing a hypothetical based on a current First Amendment controversy before panels of accomplished jurists, legal scholars and attorneys.

Past participants in the National First Amendment Moot Court Competition have represented law schools nationwide, from Brooklyn Law School to Duke University to Arizona State to Harvard.

FIRST AMENDMENT CENTER ARCHIVES

State of the First Amendment survey reports

The State of the First Amendment surveys, commissioned since 1997 by the First Amendment Center and Newseum, are a regular check on how Americans view their first freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion and petition.

The periodic surveys examine public attitudes toward freedom of speech, press, religion and the rights of assembly and petition; and sample public opinion on contemporary issues involving those freedoms.
See the reports.